Foundation raises over P3 M for Osmeña Blvd. beautification

CEBU, Philippines - The Beautiful Cebu Movement Foundation Inc. has raised over P3 million pesos and US$ 3,000 for the restoration and beautification of Osmeña Boulevard.

Businesswoman and Beautiful Cebu Movement Inc. chairwoman Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung yesterday said the foundation was able to raise P3.130 million and $3,030 from the private and business sectors for the revitalization project.

Yeung said the Beautiful Cebu Movement aims to raise P55 million to transform Osmeña Boulevard into a Spanish-era walkway with brick sidewalks and colonial lamps.

But because business establishments and some private sectors pledged to undertake their own beautification projects in their respective areas, Yeung said the funds they raised may be sufficient already for the undertaking.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Yeung said, already pledged to beautify the boulevard from the Provincial Capitol to the Fuente Osmeña rotunda. Yeung said that the project will be started by August and finished before Christmas. Business establishments were already given specific designs for the beautification of the boulevard.

“Kining atong proyekto among gipaningkamotan nga mahuman karong Pasko isip gasa namo sa tanang mga Sugbuanon ug pagpasidungog ni Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. nga mao ra’y Cebuano nga nahimong Presidente sa Pilipinas,” Yeung said during the press conference yesterday morning at the conference room of the Office of the Mayor.

Mayor Michael Rama thanked the group for their active involvement as part of his public-private-partnership program.

Rama tapped Yeung to spearhead the Osmeña Boulevard Restoration Project to create awareness of the need to rejuvenate the city.

The Sanciangko-Fuente stretch was selected because Fuente is the focal point of the city and Sanciangko St. was once the business hub of old Cebu.

Rama and Yeung said that the beautification will not only cover Osmeña Blvd. but the entire Cebu.

Yeung, however, clarified that she does not want to impute politics in the movement saying that what they are doing is only for the love of Cebu.

“This is a love project for our beloved Cebu. Let us keep politics away from what we are doing,” Yeung said. — (FREEMAN)